The Dragon Phoenix
by Yuugirurules12
Summary: When humans begin interfering with the digital world, things begin to fall into chaos. Friends begin to turn into enemies, trust begins to become weaker and selfishness rises to a maximum. Is it possible to beat an enemy when it's one of their own? Watch the Digimon Hunters, hold onto every last hope they have and see if they can overcome these challenges.
1. Destiny

_A/N: __So this is my first multi-chapter fanfic and this is a major warning but it contains dark themes and may put the characters in situations you haven't imagined them to be in before. It also attempts to remedy the plotholes from Xros Hunters and to a lesser degree Xros Wars._

**Chapter 1: Destiny**

Desires and curiousity can get the best of anyone but depending on who said person is, the consequences can worry. This story begins with three researchers who loved to experiment on different creatures. These three scientists Taiko, Kurou and Kaito have reached a block in their research and this frustrates the youngest of them, Kaito. Repetition of the same experiments has become rather boring for her and one day, when she is awake attempting to find something new. A white jacket around her shoulders, her long ebony black hair curled up into a bun to prevent them from getting in the way as her eyes gaze curiously at the objects she holds in the laboratory. She lets out a groan of frustration as she scrunches up a piece of paper, throwing it towards the bin.

"This is...ridiculous!" Kaito growled, her eyebrows bent outlining the irritation on her features. Before she could ponder much more however, a dark purple aura seemed to fill the room. Her blue eyes widened and despite the fact that she had no idea what was happening, she took a step forward.

"Whose there?" The black-haired woman demanded to know. The purple aura then vanished leaving two creatures standing there. One looked like a dark knight, metallic armor covering his body while the other looked like a cross between a beast and a man with one eye a strange red color. The woman let out a cry of alarm but the dark knight quickly spoke.

"You don't have to be afraid of us." The dark knight quickly explained and while Kaito still didn't trust these creatures, she quietened down watching them warily.

"Who are you?" Kaito inquired curiously. "Why have you come here? What do you want with me?"

The creature that looked to be half-human, half-beast spoke up in order to answer her question.

"We want to make you an offer." He spoke and before the woman could say anything he continued. "Experimenting and designing the same stuff won't allow you to move forward. We have new equipment you can design, new things you can make, new prospects you can look at."

Kaito frowned, a mixture of puzzlement and wonder drawn onto her. A part of her just wanted to move forward and accept the offer being provided to her but another part of her was hesitant to accept it.

"What's the catch?" There was a suspicious tone to her voice and she didn't really trust these creatures.

"The only catch is you try them out on digimon in our world." The dark knight spoke inwardly hiding a smirk. "Even in that, you get benefited more as you will get new prospects for your future research."

The gears in Kaito's mind were turning and finally unable to resist the curiosity that pulled at her, she nodded.

"I'm willing to do this, what do I need to do?" The black-haired woman was eager to know even if her fellow researchers may or may not agree to this. It seemed too interesting to pass up. Neither of the others respond, but dark energy began to fill the room causing the other two researchers to run out. A short, blond-haired man with spectacles came out, his features formed into a frown, he was known as Taiko.

"Kaito, what's going on?" Taiko asked confused but before the black-haired woman could reply, her eyes glowed a dark red color. The other young man who had spiky red hair and green eyes was also confused but soon all confusion died away, as all three of them then seemed to lose conscious thought. A dark aura surrounded each of their bodies as the two creatures opened up a portal, pulling the three humans through it.

A dark laboratory appeared, with many strange equipment that had not been seen before and Kaito's eyes widened in glee before she realised something.

"You still haven't mentioned your names." The black-haired woman pointed out and this time the half-beast half-human creature spoke up.

"I am Bagramon and this is my brother DarkKnightmon." He introduced finally and Kaito simply nodded in agreement. The next few days were spent on making brand new inventions that would be launched on the digital world. One of the inventions made with Taiko's brains who was the smartest of the group could immobilise digimon rendering them unable to move while Kaito's invention would erase all past memories and make digimon like a puppet simply following orders without their own capabilities to think.

* * *

The next few days became chaotic for the digimon living there, innocent digimon were being immobilised and imprisoned by these three humans. When the king of the digital world, Shoutmon was informed of this, he arranged a meeting with Xros Heart in order to discuss what to do.

"Brother, what are we going to do?" Starmon queried. "We'll need our General's help!"

"We should investigate about what is happening first." Dorulumon put in, ever the cool, calm and collected logical thinker of the group. Cutemon frowned sadly, he hated to see anyone causing such pain and destruction.

"We have to go see if our friends are okay, kyu!" Cutemon cried worriedly. "Lunamon, and the people from Shoutmon's village, Lopmon, Coronamon and Spardamon, they're all our friends! I have to help them, kyu! Sitting around here is not getting us anywhere!" He then ran off, leaving the others bewildered and slightly surprised at the slightly reckless behavior however Dorulumon simply sighed, it was just like Cutemon unable to stand any suffering even if it got him hurt.

"I'll go after him." Dorulumon volunteered but Gumdramon spoke up.

"I'll come too, I wanna teach those guys a lesson!" Gumdramon cried eagerly and Shoutmon frowned a little, not wanting anyone to become seperated before shaking his head.

"Ballistamon and I will go with Dorulumon." Shoutmon finally conceded and quickly continued before Gumdramon could protest. "Gumdramon, Damemon if things turn out bad, I'll need you guys to come with me to the digital world to call Taiki and the others."

Damemon nodded in agreement, seeing sense in the plan.

"That's a good point." Damemon immediately agreed. "After all, if Gumdramon and I get caught it will be no good, no good at all because then we can't help you!"

Gumdramon huffed, crossing his arms and pouting, resembling like a little kid who had been refused to be given candy and sulked. The others had a point, but he wanted to get into the action. Shoutmon shook his head, slightly amused despite the dire situation that they were placed with. He and Ballistamon then left with Dorulumon to search for Cutemon which didn't take long to find with Cutemon screaming and running from the humans.

The pink bunny jumped latching himself onto Dorulumon who snarled protectively in defense of his best friend.

"Rock Damashi!" Shoutmon cried launching a fire blast at the human but it was blocked by a metal pole and the red dragon digimon frowned when he came face to face with DarkKnightmon. Shock was clearly depicted on his face and the same shock was reflected in the face of his three friends, although Ballistamon was still better at focusing and launched another attack towards DarkKnightmon.

"How can this be?" Shoutmon murmured to himself. They had defeated DarkKnightmon so how could he have returned? It looked like him and it couldn't be an imposter from what he had seen but then who? Dorulumon was also thinking the same thing, though his thoughts were more focused on the fact that they had to get Cutemon out of here before he got hurt. This was why he didn't see the blast headed his way until Ballistamon shouted out an unfortunately late warning. Dorulumon tried to dodge but the blast was too fast and cut through his skin causing him to growl as he collapsed.

"Kaito now!" An unrecognisable voice called over Cutemon's begging and failed attempts in trying to heal his friend. Of course, the pink bunny was trying his best but due to the panic he felt and the tears flowing freely from his eyes, made it hard for him to concentrate on healing his friend. Cutemon attempted to shield Dorulumon as the object hit them but once it did, the pink bunny found himself unable to move at all. It was as if someone had cast some sort of freezing spell and stilled them on the spot. He could hear Shoutmon calling out their names but couldn't respond, couldn't think it was like everything was frozen solid.

"Dorulumon! Cutemon!" Shoutmon cried running forward as DarkKnightmon imprisoned them in some sort of net. "Rock Damashi!" He consistently sent attacks towards the evil knight hoping to free his friends, but his attacks had no effect and he was sent flying back from an attack by DarkKnightmon and could only watch helplessly as his two close friends were taken away. He couldn't even hear the two trying to escape, they seemed completely still causing Shoutmon to clench his fists. How did this all end up happening? He had been so useless! More evil digimon began coming causing Shoutmon to turn to Ballistamon.

"Call all of Xros Heart on the wristers!" Shoutmon said urgently. "Damemon, Gumdramon and myself need to get to Taiki urgently. For one, Taiki won't want to be left out when one of his partners has been taken and we need help. You guys create a diversion so we can make our escape."

Ballistamon did so while Shoutmon attempted to the best of his ability to distract the assailants though it didn't help much since they were higher level digimon but luckily he didn't have to hold up long. As one blast was heading his way from a Devidramon, it was knocked aside by Gumdramon's tail as he and the others appeared. The other members began fighting while Shoutmon turned to Gumdramon and Damemon.

"We have to get...out of here...we need Taiki, Tagiru and Yuu's help now." Shoutmon said his voice weak but still firm with authority. With Gumdramon and Damemon supporting an injured and weak Shoutmon between them and the others distracting and holding off the battle, the three headed to find a digital portal to return to the real world, hoping for the best.


	2. Special

_A/N: __Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the supportive reviews and I'm so happy everyone likes it. Also seeing as my chapters write themselves, this has major hints of Taiki/Akari and Kiriha/Nene. That is not to say I dislike other pairings, but these fit well in the series. _

**Chapter 2: Special**

Taiki stood fretting with his tie, making sure it was in the right place. After glancing in the mirror for the third time, he brushed at his suit to remove any dust or hair that had collected on it. Seeing that his hair was still messy, he whipped out a comb and tried to keep it back. He didn't know why but he kept twiddling his fingers and looking at his watch. She had been his best friend since they were kids, so why was he so nervous? Or at least that's what he guessed it was. His fingers were trembling, he kept making sure his suit was right in every which way and that his hair didn't look so messy.

Tonight was a party that the Old Clockman had held for all the Hunters who had helped defeat Quartzmon and there was a dance as well. So, Taiki had decided to muster up the courage and ask Akari to be his lovely date for the night. That was all well and good, they had gone on a pretend date once before but that had been ruined by SuperStarmon. That had gone fine but this made his stomach squirm and a part of him felt as if saving the world had been so much easier than doing this.

He checked his watch again and decided it was time to get going.

"Feeling nervous?" A voice asked and Taiki blushed when he realised his mother had come inside the room. However, her warm smile made him forget how embarrassed he was and he returned the smile.

Mrs. Kudou ruffled her son's hair. She had seen Taiki and Akari grow up together, watching the close bond of the two of them blossom into a relationship. Her son could be rather protective over Akari and she smiled as Taiki flushed and moved aside, fixing his hair again.

"Taiki," Mrs. Kudou said with a laugh. "Akari will love the way you look, just because it's you."

Taiki smiled at this, his thoughts drifting back to the digital world. He remembered how Akari had gotten in the presence of Bastemon and definitely hated seeing her in Lillithmon's grip. Jumping out of the window to save her had been a reckless move but his body had moved, the only thought in his mind to protect her. He was glad she was safe and amongst them. He checked his watch and decided it was time to go.

"I better head out, Mom," Taiki waved goodbye his mother, before heading outside to take the car to Akari's house. Their family wasn't exactly rich. He was 19 after all and knew how to drive so it would be better to drive there. It looked better than taking a taxi.

* * *

Akari had never thought she'd ever get dolled up for anything considering she was a tomboy but this night was special. She had asked Nene to go shopping with her since she wasn't the greatest at what was in the latest fashion. If she looked at herself three years ago, she would have laughed at the idea of dressing up. But she wanted to look nice for Taiki.

After checking her hair for the fifth time, she realized Taiki had arrived and went to join him in the lounge where he was waiting for her. Goosebumps rose up her skin but she pushed it aside. This was her best childhood friend for god's sake! This shouldn't even be that hard! They had practically grown up together after all.

Taiki held out his arm. His eyes widened. He felt his breath catch in his throat and had to keep himself from flushing at the fact that she had done all this for him. For a moment, it was like the words had been caught in his throat. He knew he should say something but in this situation...it was hard to formulate what should be said. Tagiru would certainly make fun of him seeing him this starstruck and speechless in a sense.

"You look beautiful," Taiki finally said softly, a small smile gracing his features as Akari shuffled her feet and blushed before smiling at him.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Taiki," Akari replied, her heart fluttering at the compliment and the two got going. They arrived at the cruise party. Everyone was having a really good time.

Taiki hadn't seen everyone together like this for awhile. It was a welcome change to see everyone back together. He hid a smile as he saw Tagiru and Yuu bickering about something as per usual. It was almost amusing to show that hadn't changed.

Ryouma was off to the side, looking outside, his expression somewhat distant although he turned, seeing Taiki.

"Taiki-san," he greeted causing everyone to stop what they were doing. "It's good to see you."

Tagiru pulled away from Yuu, grumbling about him not understanding and his eyes lit up.

"Taiki-san!" Tagiru said running over and tackling his senior into an embrace causing him to break his linking with Akari. "It's been so long! I missed you! Where have you been busy? You totally forgot about Yuu and I since you graduated!"

"Tagiru!" Yuu scolded, exasperated with his best friend as usual. "Stop acting like a child and give Taiki-san a chance to breathe!"

Taiki laughed a little, returning the embrace. He had to admit he had kind of missed his juniors' bickering over the smallest things although he had gotten so busy with his first year of college that he hadn't gotten a chance to keep in touch. He and Akari attended the same college, despite doing different courses so she was really the only one he kept in touch with.

"Tagiru," Taiki responded warmly. "It's good to see you too. You too, Yuu. It has been awhile hasn't it?" He moved away from Tagiru to embrace Yuu as well.

Yuu laughed a little, returning the embrace of his mentor just as warmly. It was good to see him, although he didn't act as crazy as Tagiru did.

"Good thing we had the reunion party huh?" Yuu said lightheartedly. It hadn't been the same without Taiki. Their trio somehow felt rather incomplete without him to act as a buffer between him and Tagiru as well as just to bring a sense of normalcy to their group.

Airu smiled grabbing Yuu's hand.

"Yuu-kun and Tagiru were really missing you, Taiki-san!" Airu hollered happily. "Ne, you guys?"

Yuu laughed.

"I think Tagiru was a bit more excited," Yuu teased his best friend, nudging him playfully.

Taiki rolled his eyes, waiting for Tagiru to retort and the two to get into their usual bickering but was surprised when he didn't respond. He glanced at the other, noticing a puzzled expression on his face.

"Did...did you two come as a date?" Tagiru asked Yuu and Airu, looking at them, an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Yuu rolled his eyes.

"I told you that last night, Tagiru!" Yuu replied, exasperated. "When you hung up on me remember?"

"Hmmm yeah," Tagiru waved it off, almost dismissively. "Anyway, Taiki-san, Akari-san, why don't you guys get some food? You'll need the energy to woo Akari-san into the dance ne Taiki-san?" He put on his usual cheerful smile.

Taiki and Akari both blushed, glancing at one another before looking in seperate directions.

Kiriha laughed at this while Nene giggled. The two of them were holding hands and Nene winked at Akari as a sign of wishing her good luck.

"Go on, grab a bite and get ready to woo her," Nene said teasingly, giving Taiki a small smile causing him to flush further. He nodded however.

"Yeah..." Taiki finally replied, taking Akari's hand again, leading her inside towards the food, although glanced at Tagiru noticing he had gone strangely silent. "Something's wrong."

"What's wrong, Taiki?" Akari asked, pouring some drinks for the two of them handing one to him. "You're not nervous about the dance are you?" In truth, she was nervous. Even though her and Taiki had held one another and looked out for each other, dancing would include a different type of holding.

"A little," Taiki admitted, saying a half-truth although he smiled not wanting to worry her. Sometimes he tended to worry too much anyway. "But I'll make it the best dance I can, for you."

Akari felt her cheeks heat up. She knew her face was probably as red as her hair right now. Taiki could say these things with such a straight face and not be embarrassed, she wished she had that talent.

"Taiki..." Akari murmured.

Taiki put the drink down, taking Akari's hands into his own and looking into her eyes and leaning in close.

"Am I making you nervous?" Taiki murmured just below her ear, pushing a piece of her hair back.

Akari felt as if her breath had caught in her throat. Looking into Taiki's eyes, she felt as if she could just melt into that embrace. Was he making her nervous? Yes, but not necessary in a bad way. His breath tickled at her ear causing her heart to feel like it was beating at the speed of light. She hadn't really dated anyone before nor felt this warm around anyone.

"Yes," was all she managed to get out and even that came out so low that it would be a surprise if Taiki heard it.

"Akari," Taiki pulled away, albeit lifted the redhead's chin so she was looking in his eyes. "You're special to me. I want to make this night special for you. So...will you allow me a dance?" He backed away, bowing to her, kneeling down slightly and holding out his hand.

Akari smiled, the redness of her cheeks having toned down to a light pink and took his hand.

Taiki wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her into a dance. The two were so close that their bodies were almost touching.

* * *

Kiriha smiled, seeing Taiki and Akari dancing. He felt a little awkward. He wanted to ask Nene to dance but was unsure of how to. He wasn't as good as Taiki when it came to responding to emotional situations though and breathed out through his nose. Nene looked absolutely gorgeous the way she did and he wanted to make this night special for. Besides, it had been hard enough to get Yuu's approval, he wanted the night to at least be worth it.

"Kiriha-kun?" Nene said, a small smile gracing her features. She could tell he was flustered and to be honest, it made him kind of cute. Yuu's protective brotherly warning had made him nervous after all even though she knew her brother was in complete approval of her dating whoever she wanted. It was just his way of letting her and Kiriha know that he had her back.

"Yeah?" Kiriha replied. "Sorry I was just...I wondered...I mean..." He groaned, turning bright red. Why was this so hard? He had saved the world once before dammit! "Do you want to...dance with me?"

Nene giggled a little, seeing his face flush red.

"Of course," Nene assured him warmly. "You look kind of cute like that you know." She winked at him. "It's an expression I could get used to."

"N-Nene!" Kiriha felt even more flustered with how easy she took things although felt relieved when she agreed. He cleared his throat and like Taiki had, held out his hand towards Nene which the brunette took.

* * *

"That's so cute and romantic!" Airu squealed, gushing at how sweet the couple looked. "I'm surprised Tagiru isn't take the chance to embarrass them though, Yuu-kun."

Yuu laughed a little at his date's gushing and glanced over at Tagiru. He had gone rather quiet and seemed to be avoiding, since he had reminded him that he had brought Airu as his date to the night. Whatever could be wrong? He went over to his friend, who had a smile on his face as he watched Taiki and Akari.

"Tagiru, are you ok?" Yuu asked lightly. "I mean, I would've thought you'd be going crazy and embarrassing Taiki-san and all."

Tagiru glanced at Yuu for a moment.

"Your girlfriend can be crazy at times, you know," Tagiru sounded almost disheartened in a sense. "Why not get her to amuse you with her antics? I'm gonna get some onigiri." He went to the onigiri table, leaving Yuu looking even more confused.

As his friend to get the onigiri, Yuu glanced over at his sister and Kiriha dancing. He smiled. He could tell Kiriha cared about Nene a lot and hoped he could give her the happiness he deserved. Seeing that they seemed to be having a good time, the blond made to go after Tagiru but before he could do anything, there was a blast on the ship and Shoutmon, Gumdramon and Damemon came rolling in. Everyone was shouting in surprise at the fact that the Digimon King was there. Taiki and Akari looked alarmed at what they saw.

Shoutmon was bruised, a few scars and cuts down his metallic body and was being supported between Gumdramon and Damemon. His eyes were closed at the pain he was in.

"Taiki," Shoutmon began. "We need your help."


	3. Believe

_A/N: __Hey everyone! This is the third chapter of my fic. Once again, thank you for all the support even though my updates are so spontaneous and all. One thing I'd like to mention is in this story, the old clock guy is not Bagramon. That was never confirmed and is only limited to the fans' headcanons._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Believe**

Taiki stared, his stomach churning at his partner's condition. While there had been times his partner had been in a poor condition, he seemed really hurt. He was glad Damemon and Gumdramon were supporting his friend because otherwise he looked like he would just topple over any moment. Pushing aside his concerning thoughts, he knelt down besides his partner.

"Shoutmon," he breathed as Tagiru and Yuu rushed besides Gumdramon and Damemon.

"I-I'm fine," Shoutmon managed to mutter, managing a smile. "We got bigger problems to worry about. Dorulumon and Cutemon have been captured by this new enemy and they're in a lot of trouble. DarkKnightmon and Bagramon...they're back." He almost collapsed again but Gumdramon shifted back from Tagiru, catching the injured King.

"Ou-sama!" Gumdramon cried, concern clearly shown in his voice.

"'M fine," Shoutmon murmured. "Tagiru...Ballistamon said...he saw..."

Tagiru knelt by them.

"Don't try to talk, Shoutmon," Tagiru murmured, glancing at his mentor's concerned face anxiously.

"B-but..." Shoutmon protested, but Taiki ushered him to be silent this time.

"Tagiru, can you get some water?" Taiki asked. "Yuu, is there any food left? If so, get something small. Shoutmon needs to regain his strength."

Tagiru and Yuu both nodded, rushing off to get the food and drinks while Taiki got Shoutmon seated on the couch.

Tagiru poured a glass of water for Shoutmon whilst Yuu made to get the food.

"Tagiru, is everything ok?" Yuu asked. "You seemed down earlier so..."

Tagiru waved him off.

"We have bigger problems to worry about right now," he replied curtly causing Yuu to frown.

Yuu didn't understand his friend at times, even though he did have a point right now so he quickly followed with the food. Taiki had made his partner quite comfortable on the couch as the other two brought the food and water.

* * *

After a good rest and some food and water, Shoutmon seemed a little better.

"Now," Taiki said gently. "Since you can actually talk and everything, why don't you tell us what happened?"

Shoutmon smiled a little, although it quickly fell into a frown.

"Dorulumon and Cutemon were captured," he said, grimacing as he recollected the events. "I didn't understand...still don't why Dorulumon didn't fight back. It was almost like he were I dunno paralyzed or somethin cause he couldn't move at all."

Taiki had a sharp intake of breath at that. It wasn't like Dorulumon not to fight back so something must have been stopping him.

"Who's the new evil?" he asked, trying to take things one step at a time.

Shoutmon shook his head, sighing.

"DarkKnightmon's back," Shoutmon said, unsure of how to put that in a way that wasn't too blunt so he just went outright and said it. Oh well, he wasn't known for his tact after all.

Yuu felt himself freeze as DarkKnightmon was mentioned. His heart thudded in his chest and sweat began to develop in his palms. He opened his mouth to say something but the words got caught in his throat and he felt he couldn't speak.

"Yuu-kun?"

"Yuu?"

"Yuu, look at me."

Yuu snapped out of it to see Airu, Tagiru and Nene all looking at him in concern. Taiki glanced his way as well but felt he was well-taken care of right now.

"Are you okay, Yuu?" Tagiru asked, forgetting his earlier jealousy of Airu and Yuu being together. He knew about Yuu's past and didn't know if Airu did but he wanted Yuu to know he wasn't alone in this.

Yuu knew they were all trying to help but right now, he felt as if the walls were closing in on him and he had nowhere to go. It wasn't possible...DarkKnightmon couldn't be back, he just couldn't be. He knew he was acting suspicious, most of them didn't know the horrible deeds he had committed after all, but he didn't know how to deal with this. Glancing once at his sister, he ran outside. He needed the fresh air and even though it was a boat party, it felt like he was trapped in a room with no way out.

"It's not your fault, Yuu," The voice came from behind him and Yuu was surprised at who the owner of the voice was. He had expected it to be his sister or even Tagiru but it wasn't. He turned away again.

"I'm sure the digimon I've hurt won't agree with you, Taiki-san," Yuu choked out with a bitter laugh. They all made light out of it. It would be so much easier if they just hated him and cursed him for the things he had done. He felt Taiki's hand on his arm and looked up at him. "I don't get it sometimes...I tried to kill you, I hurt Neesan, yet you all...never had any resentment towards me?"

"Haven't you punished yourself enough?" Another voice said and Taiki and Yuu turned to see Tagiru standing there, a smile gracing his features.

"Tagiru..." Yuu murmured. "Thanks for not saying anything to Airu."

Tagiru shook his head.

"We're friends, Yuu," he replied simply. "We may still bicker over the stupidest things but I'm not about to go tell your secrets to the world."

Yuu sighed a little.

"Why do you forgive me though?" he asked quietly. "Because of me, Damemon died, I almost killed Neesan and Taiki-san, all because I thought everything was a game. And now he's come back." He laughed although the laugh was filled with sarcasm. "Who knows what he has up his sleeve this time?"

Taiki sighed a little before smiling.

"Tagiru just answered that," Taiki pointed out. "You blame yourself and punish yourself enough without us having to add to it." He paused for a moment. "Nene never gave up on you, Yuu. No matter how much it hurt her, she never gave up on you. So don't you give up on yourself."

"Taiki-san..." Yuu murmured softly, unshed tears brimming in his eyes.

"Cheer up, Yuu!" Tagiru said cheerfully, flinging an arm around his best friend's shoulders. "We all mess up, make mistakes, fall down and scrape our knees right? But no matter how bad the scrape is, we gotta get back up and keep going ok? It's what Damemon would want for you as well!"

Yuu nodded a little, subconsciously leaning close to Tagiru.

"We gotta keep going," he agreed, tilting his head to bury it in Tagiru's shoulder for a moment in order to compose himself.

Tagiru felt a flush creep up to his cheeks but squeezed Yuu's shoulder in comfort. He saw Taiki watching them with a look in his eyes and glanced over causing his eyes to meet with his mentor's who smiled at him This caused him to flush even more and look away. It felt nice holding his best friend like this but no, he shouldn't be having those thoughts. Yuu and Airu were practically dating each other after all, considering they had come to the party together. He had to stop thinking like this or he'd only make things difficult for himself.

It didn't seem as if Airu would be willing to let Yuu go so easily and he seemed to like her well enough...didn't he just decide he'd stop thinking this? Instead he focused on helping Yuu calm down. Airu didn't know about Yuu's past, so he needed to help his friend be composed enough to answer her erratic questions.

After Yuu was calmed down enough, the three headed back inside. Nene leaned over, pulling her little brother into an embrace and squeezing his hand.

"You ok?" she asked, concern echoing through her tone. Yuu wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah, I'm okay now," he assured her. "I just have to get back up and keep going." He gave a quick glance at Tagiru as he said this who grinned back at him, giving him a thumbs up. Nene just held him closer to her, kissing him gently on the forehead.

"I'm glad you're ok dame," Damemon admitted. "I don't like it when you think of that time. Makes me think I'm not a good enough partner when you do."

Yuu smiled a little, giving his sister a final squeeze before kneeling down besides Damemon.

"As long as you and the others are with me, I can keep going," Yuu promised his partner who beamed at him in return.

* * *

Once that was settled, the group headed to the digital world through Shoutmon cracking open a portal. Being the Digimon King did have it's advantages even when he was exhausted.

As the group landed in the digital world, it was a mess, to put it in the simplest words possible. There were frozen sculptures of digimon lying everywhere and the entire place was just a frozen wasteland.

Akari shivered a little at how cold it was, wearing a dress was not the ideal wear for this weather. Taiki, noticing her discomfort ignored his own cold and shrugged his jacket off, wrapping it around her shoulders.

Airu shivered as well, clinging onto Yuu.

"Yuu-kun, it's cold!" Airu complained. She wanted to ask about why he was so sad and what the big secret was...but Ryouma had stopped her, saying something about timing. Still...it was annoying that Tagiru knew about it and she didn't!

Yuu smiled a little, wrapping his own jacket around Airu's shoulders and holding her close, although felt sickened at the sight in front of him. He somehow wanted to shield his friends from it, especially Tagiru. And the other Hunters of course, but for some reason, Tagiru had entered his mind first.

'Not important right now' he scolded himself, trying to focus.

Ryouma shifted behind him, before draping his own jacket around Airu's shoulders as well and giving her a small smile. Airu looked surprised but flushed and smiled at the kind gesture. She reached over taking his hand and squeezing it.

"Thanks," she said softly. Her friend had been rather quiet since the whole Quartzmon incident and she wanted him to know they were there for him.

Ryouma blushed and simply nodded in response to that. Ren clapped his hand on his friend's back to show his support.

"Welcome to the Digital World!" A cheerful voice rang out. "I missed you, Tagiru!"

Tagiru's eyes suddenly widened and he stared. His insides squirmed as he saw who it was. Standing there on a hill above the frozen digimon was Mashimo Hideaki with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"H-Hideaki?" Tagiru finally managed to stutter, a little caught off guard. "Are you and Dobermon trying to help the hurt digimon?"

Hideaki shrugged, his smirk instantly changing to a concerned frown.

"Yeah, but it's hard to find what caused this," he said slowly. He moved closer to Tagiru, almost too close for comfort. "Will you come with me to find clues, Tagiru?"

Taiki got a strange feeling in his stomach and glanced at Hideaki. Following his gut instinct, he grabbed Tagiru by the arm, pushing him towards Yuu.

Tagiru cried out in slight alarm as he stumbled into Yuu who reached out, catching him.

"Tagiru! You ok?" Yuu asked, biting his lower lip, wondering why Taiki had suddenly pushed Tagiru towards him.

"Yeah, what's going on though?" Tagiru asked befuddled.

Yuu shook his head. He didn't know but it seemed Taiki was worried about something, regarding Hideaki and Tagiru. A strong desire to protect engulfed him suddenly and he shifted, so he was standing in front of the other.

Taiki turned back to Hideaki.

"I think splitting up is a good idea," Taiki said to him. "Why don't we search for some hints together, Hideaki?"

Hideaki's features immediately shifted to form a scowl on his face.

"I'd rather be with someone I know well," Hideaki practically demanded forcefully.

Tagiru shook his head, clearly confused.

"Hideaki, don't worry, Taiki-san's really nice," Tagiru said softly. "And he says things for a reason usually, so what about the rest of us, Taiki-san?"

Taiki pondered that for a moment.

"Tagiru, you and Yuu go together, Nene and Kiriha can be paired up, Zenjirou, can you go with Akari?" Taiki asked turning to his rival-friend. "I have my reasons and Ryouma, Ren and Airu, you three work well together so I'm not going to split you three up."

The others nodded although Hideaki scowled even more, making to protest before deciding to go with it. He glanced at Tagiru once, before following Taiki into the forest.


	4. Harass

_A/N: Hi there! First of all, I want to say welcome mikiyagami to my fic and I'm really glad you like it so much. Means a lot to me and I do hope you continue to leave me your feedback. Same goes for the rest of you. Feedback means a lot to me :) I don't find this chapter as well, still working on my description skills. _

**Chapter 4: Harass**

Taiki glanced back once at the rest of the group, seeing Tagiru and Yuu reach a distance away before looking at Hideaki.

"So, are you going to tell me why you were looking at Tagiru that way or am I going to have to persuade you?" Taiki asked casually. His expression was calm but his eyes were focused and surging with protectiveness. No one would hurt Tagiru and Yuu as long as he were around. They may not be his brothers but they were as good as.

Hideaki snarled at this.

"I can do whatever I want!" he snapped defensively. "Don't meddle with things that don't involve you, Taiki-san."

Taiki did not seem bothered by the harshness at all and simply glanced his way. He saw the threat in the words. There was something more to this. Hideaki wasn't working alone, not completely. However, whether his intentions with Tagiru were his own feelings or the result of someone's control was another matter entirely. He shrugged.

"Suit yourself then," he replied simply and continued walking.

Suddenly, Taiki stopped causing Shoutmon to almost bump into him and might have if Taiki hadn't been thrown back, crumpling to the ground roughly.

"Hideaki-kun, your methods are such a bore sometimes," A young boy appeared. He had light blue hair and was quite well-dressed. He wore a suit and bow tie, having a wide smile on his face.

Hideaki stared, his eyes widening.

It was rare for Kuro Sakai to wander out, he always remained indoors observing everyone. He shivered a little. Even though he looked up to Kuro as a teacher due to his methods, he made his plans look like those of a harmless little kitten.

"It's strange to see you here, Kuro-sama," Hideaki admitted. "Kaito and Taico usually don't let you out of their sight."

Kuro pouted.

"Well, they're just too grown-up," The blue-haired boy huffed before blinking and reappearing behind Taiki grabbing him.

Shoutmon hissed protectively, before making to attack but a needle came flying in his direction, stabbing itself inside him. He felt his vision blur. He wanted to move but he couldn't. A sharp pain moved through his body and he felt like someone had placed him above an oven that was burning inside and out.

"Shoutmon!" Taiki cried, ignoring his own pain of being blasted back and making towards him but Kuro's grip tightened around him.

"Don't worry, he's just paralysed!" Kuro assured him brightly. "Though since he's the king, I'm sure he'll be wanted actually. But I find you much more interesting."

Taiki grimaced in the iron-like grip which made it hard for him to do anything. He reached for his X-Loader but Kuro slapped against his arm so roughly that he lost grip on it causing it to hit the ground.

"Let go!" Taiki cried, squirming although Kuro placed some cloth over his mouth. He felt his vision blur although he continued squirming until he went limp.

Kuro glanced at Hideaki.

"Go ahead Hideaki-kun," Kuro said softly, grabbing Taiki's X-Loader and trapping the paralysed Shoutmon in a net. "They'll forgive me once they realise I brought the King." He headed back to headquarters.

* * *

Tagiru and Yuu were heading to look for clues to enquire more about the digital world situation on what exactly was going on.

"Yuu?" Tagiru asked, causing Yuu to look at him. "What was all that about? Why was Taiki-san so suspicious of Hideaki?"

Yuu frowned a little, remembering Taiki's reaction and shook his head.

"I don't know the exact reason," Yuu admitted. "But I think he felt Hideaki might want to hurt you."

"Why would he want to hurt me though?" Tagiru asked, baffled at the very thought. He and Hideaki were good friends after all.

Yuu sighed. A part of him wanted to be honest with his best friend but the other part wanted to protect his innocence. He knew Tagiru should be prepared for whatever came next and he was definitely strong-willed enough to handle anything that came their way but at the same time, this was different. It was different precisely because Hideaki was a close friend of Tagiru's, rather than an open enemy for them all to face. He opened his mouth to make an excuse to why Hideaki might want to hurt him but a voice cut through them.

"Exactly, why would I?" Hideaki's voice resonated from around them and suddenly hands grabbed hold of Tagiru.

Tagiru squirmed at the grip, before coming face to face with Hideaki Mashimo.

"Oi, Tagiru reload me!" Gumdramon cried from inside the X-Loader.

"Me too, Yuu!" Damemon agreed.

Tagiru elbowed Hideaki in the chest, managing to catch him off guard.

"Reload Gumdramon!"

"Reload Damemon!"

The two digimon came out in action ready to fight. Hideaki raised an eyebrow, reloading Dobermon as well as five other digimon. DarkTyrranomon, Devimon, SkullSatamon, ShadowWereGarurumon and WarGreymon along with Dobermon made up Hideaki's collection.

Yuu stepped in front of Tagiru protectively, not wanting Hideaki to hurt him. He glowered at the other.

"Where's Taiki-san?" Yuu asked defensively. Had Hideaki hurt Taiki? He would never forgive him if he had.

Hideaki hummed as if thinking of a fond old memory.

"He needn't get involved with something that's between Tagiru and I, should he?" Hideaki replied easily. "Yuu, get out of my way. I only want Tagiru."

Yuu outstretched his arms in front of his best friend.

"Never!" Yuu snarled, bristling in protective rage. He could see the look in Hideaki's eyes. It was the look Airu often gave him. Yes, she was his girlfriend but lately he had begun feeling, she had more of a physical attraction towards him. Her lust was harmless though but he felt Hideaki's wasn't. "Damemon, super-evolve!"

"You too Gumdramon!" Tagiru said immediately.

Arresterdramon and Tsuwamon appeared beginning to fight the army.

"Dobermon!" Hideaki cried. "Dark evolution!"

Dobermon began to change form, beginning to change it into a wolf-like creature called Anubismon.

Anubismon moved quickly and slashed his sword down Yuu's chest before the other two had a chance to move.

"Yuu!" Tagiru cried, catching his best friend. "Oh god, Yuu..."

Anubismon made to slash through again. Tagiru moved to shield his friend, crying out as the slash marked across his arm. Blood trickled through the wound but Yuu looked much more.

Blood was spilling fast out of the wound and the blond's breath was getting weary. Pushing his own pain aside, Tagiru knew enough to know that Yuu needed help or at least Cutemon's healing abilities. He laid his friend down against a tree and looked up.

"Hideaki stop!" Tagiru cried, trying to talk sense into his friend. "Please! If Anubismon strikes again, Yuu could die. The friend I remember wouldn't sacrifice another friend's life for his own selfish desires."

A flash of Hideaki's old self sparked in him for a moment before his eyes glowed red.

"I can have Cutemon heal him," Hideaki replied dismissively before his voice turned cold. "But you need to come with me. Surrender yourself and Yuu gets to live. Continue to hide behind him for protection and Anubismon will strike again."

Tagiru felt his blood turn cold. He didn't want to surrender. He really didn't. But at the same time, he couldn't just let Yuu die. He felt as if he were being crushed between two walls. If he went with Hideaki, there was no guarantee that he'd uphold his promise and have Yuu healed anyway. But if he didn't...oh god, what was he supposed to do? It was a double-edged sword.


End file.
